#also i personally love nina from berserk and i relate to her

[beevean]

🔥 for Berserk

Nina is a well written character. While Luca is the inspiration, a little too "perfect", Nina is relatable for me in how she's aware of how cowardly and pathetic she is, but she really wants to be better, and eventually she finds her chance to become someone she can be proud of away from Luca who makes her feel inadequate. I also like how Luca phrases her cowardice as an intense desire to live :)

I much prefer Farnese as a pyrophilic sadistic mess of a human being over the well adjusted witch she became later on. Yes, it's touching how she came to care for Casca, how she learned to take care of herself and another fragile human being... but ngl, I find her evil version more compelling. Only Miura could depict a woman masturbating at the thought of a burning person and make it a pivotal character moment. (I also consider her one of the best cases of "lonely rich kids" in media, as she is a great depiction of what emotional neglect can do to children)

The art of Berserk peaked during the Lost Children/Conviction arc.

Griffith is understandable up until the sacrifice of the Band of the Hawk. In his broken state, it still somewhat makes sense that he'd rather use his comrades (which he deliberately refused to get too attached to) to gain a modicum of control in his life. Of course, Casca's rape is completely unexcusable, and even if you think that he somehow predicted that if he corrupted her fetus he'd be able to use it later on, why did he make Guts watch? That was just human spite.

I never loved Casca that much because everytime I see her during the GA arc, I remember the Nostalgia Critic's speech about how women were written in the 90s. Casca is just... very 90s to me. Not a bad character by any means, but for me she lacks that certain thing that makes others much more interesting, like Guts or Nina or Farnese.

[catebeesart]

OC masterpost below

Baldur's Gate 3

Brân Fraith (he/him) - half drow, College of lore bard. History teacher :)

Xanthi (they/them) - halfling storm sorcerer Durge??, still very underdeveloped

Dragon Age

Verena Dora Lyudmila Aeducan (she/her) - main worldstate HoF

Rozerin Tabris (she/her) - alternate HoF where Alistair is happy and in love because he deserves it

Marian Hawke (she/they) - one and only Hawke for most worldstates

Eelis Lavellan (he/him) - main inquisitor whom I love like a son

Winifred Trevelyan (she/her) - non-inky Trevelyan from Eelis's worldstate

(worldstate info and non-da ocs under the cut)

Verena Aeducan (She/her) demisexual, born 9:01 Dragon

Noble Dwarf Rogue, Duelist + Legionnare specialization

Supported the mages

Persuaded Isolde to kill Connor

Retrieved the Ashes

Stopped the curse and let Zathrian die :)

Destroyed the anvil + Supported Bhelen (after messing with him for a bit)

Alistair and Anora rule

No ritual, Loghain dead

Saved Amaranthine + the Keep didn't fall

Married Zevran

Adopted a bunch of young Crow recruits

IF CURE FOR BLIGHT WASN'T FOUND: she refuses to leave on her Calling and stays with Zevran and the kids for as long as she can, Morrigan made her a little poison morsel for when she turns ghouly

Rozerin Tabris (she/her) trans, born 9:06 Dragon

City Elf Warrior, Champion + Guardian specialization

Anora Rules, Alistair stays with the Wardens

She and Alistair call each other spouses but they never had a ceremony (for obvious trauma-related reasons)

Marian Hawke (she/they) genderfluid, aroace, born 9:07 Dragon

Human Warrior, Berserker specialization

Mostly blue personality

Friends with everyone <3 ('cept Aveline )

Bethany is in the circle

Dueled the Arishok

Sided with the mages

Pretended to kill Anders ;) (a new choice that I made up)

Escaped to Ferelden with Beth, Fenris and Peach the mabari

Found a little house outside of South Reach to lay low in

Opened a little school for farmer children to learn to read and count after Inquisition. Rarely goes back to Kirkwall, but Varric opened a similar institute in her name in Lowtown

After Peach they get a new mabari named Plum

Eelis Lavellan (he/him), born 9:14 Dragon

Dalish archer Rogue, Assassin specialization

Allied with mages

Briala rules through Gaspard???? (I literally don't know)

Pardoned the Wardens + Stroud left in the Fade

Drank from the Well

Married Dorian

Softened Leliana became Divine

Disbanded the Inquisition

Total grudge against Solas >:C

Eventually moved to Tevinter

Family: Hilja (she/her) younger sibling, Maarit (she/her) mother, Amavel "Veli" (he/him) best friend + Aquila Racina (she/her) Dorian's apprentice who's basically their child

Winifred Trevelyan (she/her) queer, born 8:97 Dragon

Human Mage, resident Glyph expert

Sent to the Ostwick circle at 13 after hiding her magic for several years

Had a child while in the circle in 9:18, who was brought up by her brother

Joined the Inquisition with the Redcliffe mages

In a relationship with Blackwall

Family: parents Lady Beatrice and Lord Tristan, uncle Knight Commander Urien, son Aderyn, and brothers Aidan with daughters Philippa and Joan, and Liam with son Lucas

The Arcana

Arianne Eliades (she/her) - Julian's wife, check @selfsacrificingfools for my Arcana backlog

Original stuff:

Gabriel Sharp and Thomas Adair, my queer Edwardian morticians <3

Agata Morgenstern (she/her) and Julia Philippe de Fervidor (they/them), both characters from a dating sim that lives in my head

Drawn To The Flames, an urban fantasy story starring: Adelaide Petran-Fouque (she/they), Nina Otxoa (she/her), Bram (they/them), Cat Andersen (he/him also, little/babby), Gabi Petran-Fouque (he/him), Hamlet Towers (he/him), Vasilisa (she/her)

Mare Scarlett (she/he/they) human ranger, DnD character I never used

I have a billion more but they're mostly retired I'm afraid

[silhouettecrow]

This is the last part of me providing my Thoughts™ and Feelings™ about Shadow and Bone as I watch it 'cos this one is about the finale:

They brought back Alina and Mal reaching out for each other, and oh, boy, was that heartbreaking! It’s so well done yet so painful

Mal's turn-around of "Time will do it for me" to "Your past will do it for me” when he let the volcra get the Darkling was so good. I literally clapped, even though I knew the Darkling would, obviously, live

Also, the ending of the Darkling emerging from the Fold after Alina and Mal saying he’s dead was a great yet predictable (in a good way) transition. And the way the Darkling said, “Follow,” and the merzost just came with him was chilling. That was a perfect way to end the first season in my opinion

Not to brag, but I said three things before Jesper, one before Kaz, and one before Nina. I think my theory about absorbing the Crows' personalities is more true than I initially thought it was

Remember how I mentioned how the ugliness and asymmetry of the antlers in Alina’s collarbone was such an amazing parallel to the pain she is in? Well, her absorbing the antlers altogether after releasing herself from the Darkling’s control and realising the stag chose to give her its power is just. . .WOW. I honestly don’t know how to express how beautiful that was

Also, my best friend did bring up a good point: where did the antlers go? Did they just go further into her body? Did she legit consume them into her body and they’re just gone? What happened? 😂

Can I talk about Nina and Matthias for a hot second? I honestly don’t think I felt so much for Helnik when I read the Six of Crows duology as I did in this last episode, so I have a lot to say. The chemistry is straight from the pages of the books, but it’s so much different physically seeing them interact than just reading about it. It’s also different ‘cos we are seeing the relationship develop between them than being thrown in the middle of it with backstory being sprinkled throughout the progression of their story. The two of them flirting and being cute was so lovely, but the fear in Nina’s eyes when she knows she has to make a horrible decision between Matthias being arrested or being killed and then the betrayal that is written all across Matthias’ face in that cell on the ship was just devastating

I know this isn't about this episode, but I realised I forgot to mention it attached to episode 6 (I think), but Ivan threatening Jesper with him knowing what he is was dastardly. Like, I know you have to have read the books to know what Ivan was saying 'cos Jesper cuts him off, and I love little Easter eggs like that for us, but the foreshadowing of that shit was good. Leave the people who haven't read the books with questions and the people who have in anticipation! God, I love that!

Jesper still missing Milo is so precious and, I hate to say it, a mood ‘cos me too. I wanted to see a surprise appearance from the darling goat, but I will take Jesper bringing him up twice as compensation

Speaking of Jesper being a mood, Jesper begging for the reassurance that Kaz has got their backs with a plan was so painfully relatable. Bro, I would have done the same thing in that situation

It hurts me on a spiritual level to be aware that five out of the six Crows were on that boat at once. I need Wylan. Y’all, season 2 better happen 😭

And I want more interactions between Inej and Alina and between Inej and Zoya. That shit makes my Sapphic heart go berserk. You can’t look me in the eyes and say there isn’t the least bit of gay tension between these women. And that means I am so looking forward to Inej and Nina interacting; I may pass out

In addition to that, Kaz saying he needs Inej added five years to my life. And I think the happiest he looked all season was when Inej said she’d go with him to pay off Heleen and then decide what to do from there. And Kaz being a believer is ✨bonkers✨ in the best way possible

Lastly, to end with something about my boy, Jesper saying that he still couldn’t shoot Ivan’s pretty face was fucking great. I also died laughing at him saying that the true wealth was the friends they made along the way ‘cos of course Jesper is going to be the one to make a real-world meme reference and, on top of that, make it about the goat! Amazing, beautiful, wonderful. As always, I love him dearly

My final thoughts on the show as a whole is that it is a great adaptation of the books, especially with the blending of the storylines from the trilogy and the Six of Crows duology. The pacing was something I honestly had to adjust to, considering I know so much of the source material, but I think it worked and was a good choice to help viewers unfamiliar with the books understand what is happening. And even though I’ve read the books, I was pleasantly surprised with the numerous twists and turns; I was invested in the show as a whole, not just for the familiar characters and storylines (that was just a bonus, tbh). I genuinely love this show and am willing to say it is now tied for my favourite television show with Orphan Black and Good Omens. I’m hoping desperately for a season 2, not just for Wylan and Nikolai, but because this was truly so beautiful and brought me a lot of happiness and peace during one of the scariest and most stressful times in my life

I just want to thank anyone who has read any of these things I've written about the show. I truly didn't expect anyone to read them or even really care about what I thought or felt, but it does mean a lot that some of you are willing to read them at all and then even give them a like. This is just the adaptation of my favourite book series and knowing other people are caring about and even enjoying my reactions is so pleasant and comforting. Thank you 💕

If you want to check out my other Thoughts™ and Feelings™ about this first season, here are the links to those posts: Episode 2, Episodes 3 and 4, Episode 5, and Episodes 6 and 7

I'm now excited to remove spoilers from my filtered tags and to dive into what other people have been posting about Shadow and Bone! See y'all on the other side! ✌

[getoffthesoapbox]

(1) Thank you for your reply! Yes, I've read Berserk and I can see why you compare those two, but Griffith is a manifestation of the word "ambition" to me, and Charioce gives me different vibes, like what he does he does out of something way more personal??? Idk how to explain this because we don't have enough info on him yet. I mean, Charioce is ambitious, yes, but I don't think he sees his task as his ultimate dream, unlike Griffith.

(2) And they are alike in the way that both will do whatever it takes to reach their goal but it seems like Charioce hasn’t lost his humanity completely yet, while Griffith is, like, beyond salvation. Btw, about Mugaro. I’ve rewatched last episodes and now I think - what if it was all planned in some way? I mean, the meeting of Azazel and Mugaro? Because if you think about it closely - isn’t it too convenient for them to meet that way? And it was Mugaro who chose to stick with Azazel.

(3) I mean, if it’s Jeannes’ child, her own flesh and blood or not, I don’t think she’d give her kid away that easily, and more so, voluntarily. I see some conspiracy here lol. I feel like Mugaro may have a certain plan in mind that we’ve yet to find out and it probably involves Michael. What do you think about it? Oh, and I’m sorry for this long message again. It’s just that I find SnB to be AOTS lol

You’re absolutely welcome! As you can see from my insane recap posts, I’m pretty crazy about SnB:VS, so it’s always a pleasure to talk with others who love it too.

Oh, I’m so glad you know Berserk! Makes things much easier. ;D And you’re right, Griffith absolutely is a different kind of character than Charioce, of course. Griffith is the “ambitious dreamer” archetype. Charioce is probably closer to Azazel actually than Griffith, ironically–I think he’s more of an avenging angel type, if I’m reading him right. Something deeply scarred him in his past and he’s taking out on the world (he’s basically closer to being a bitter nihilistic totalitarian than Griffith’s more standard “I want to remake the world in my image muahahah” idealism fufu.) My point in comparing them was more to demonstrate that it’s very easy to create a likable villain who is understandable, relatable, and even admirable in some ways, rather than to say they’re identical characters, if that makes sense lol. =)

Mugaro’s indeed the greatest wild card in this story, if I’m honest. I’m not sure what the deal is with him/her. I’m torn on Mugaro being a direct rebirth of Michael (like a phoenix, where when Michael dies, Michael is “reborn” from the ashes in a sense, with no incubation period required) and just raised by Jeanne/adopted by Jeanne or if Mugaro’s an immaculate conception of some kind. At this point, everything’s up in the air. It could also be a straight up lie that Jeanne told Charioce in order to protect Mugaro’s “true” origins, such as Mugaro being Micheal regressed to a child form because of losing so much power, etc. 

I’m not sure what I think about who’s pulling the strings with Mugaro (if anyone) or if chance/fate is at play. It’s quite possible that Jeanne had a plan for Mugaro that just backfires when Azazel crashes the party, and Mugaro takes the opportunity to escape. It’s also possible that this is all part of Mugaro’s plan and Jeanne’s just covering for him/her. What these plans are (and if there even is a plan of some sort) is anyone’s guess at this point. XD That’s why I haven’t strayed too far into speculation territory on this part of the story yet. We’re just missing too many of the pieces to the Mugaro side of the puzzle. We also don’t even know where Favaro fits in at this point, or Bahamut. Everyone could be working toward different end games, and only the later episodes will reveal who’s on whose side. 

I definitely think that no matter what the deal is with Mugaro, he/she has some goal in mind, and that involves Azazel and Nina in some capacity. Mugaro’s avoiding Sofiel even though arguably he/she shouldn’t be afraid of angels, and he’s/she’s also avoiding letting Azazel know the extent of his/her power. Nina’s so dumb it doesn’t matter. XD Mugaro’s playing a close hand here, and trust doesn’t seem to extend very far to anyone. Mysteries, mysteries. XD

Hopefully we’ll get more meat on the Mugaro side of the story soon, as well as some nuance to Charioce. =)